Flutterwave has secured a microfinance bank license - but the entity it acquired raises questions about the strategic scope the company can immediately pursue.

The Cairo-based startup will use the investment to scale its cold-chain-independent PCR testing kits across Africa and the Middle East.

The Dubai-headquartered lending platform's most revealing growth story is not in Africa's largest markets.

In Morocco, three startups are all targeting the same 126,000 independent retailers. Backed by Morocco's largest bank, its royal family holding company, and a South African insurer, the race is now about who locks in the merchant first.